Saturday, 3 May 2014

The Dinosaur Roar! App Review

Leo is just getting to an age where he is enjoying to sit and have a quiet 20 minutes with my iPad. It is only in recent weeks that this has begun to happen, and now he has a few apps of his own to play with. I have been really impressed watching him use the apps and controlling my iPad to make it conform to what he wants to do. He recognizes which are his apps and can load them up and start his games.

We were recently asked to try out the new Dinosaur Roar! App, an app based on the popular children's picture book. Having a toddler who is loving everything dinosaur related at present, I was keen to get involved and see how he would get on with it.

The classic picture book Dinosaur Roar! is written by Paul and Henrietta Stickland. It was first published in the UK back in 1994, and since it's release is has become a big hit with kids and adults alike! The title are marking their 20th anniversary and have appointed Penguin Random House as the new publishers. The book is the inspiration for a major new project for pre-schoolers being developed by Nurture Rights in association with the Natural History Museum. The new 20th edition version of Dionsaur Roar! is now in the shops and a percentage of royalties from the book will be going straight to the museum to support their work!

The new Dinosaur Roar! App.

Story – fully immersive and interactive experience. Key features include:

- Innovative scrolling function to move through the story, which is displayed as a continuous journey through the dinosaurs’ world.- Option to listen to the story (narrated by children) or read the story by yourself- Special record function! Read and save your own voice.- Images and animation created using Paul Stickland’s original paintings.- Children will love to watch, listen to and touch the dinosaurs as they stomp, shuffle, snuffle, snort, chomp, grunt, blink, squeak and roar.

You can download the new Dinosaur Roar! App from the iTunes store and it costs £1.99. We have downloaded the app on both the iPad and my iPhone. Upon loading the app up we were met with some themed music and presented with the simple menu.

The menu offers three options 'Read' 'Colour' and 'Name'.

The 'Read' option presents you with an additional three options, you can either have the book read to you by children ( I thought this was lovely, and Leo loved hearing their voices telling the story.) You can read the book a loud yourself or you can even record yourself reading the book. I especially liked the final option as it means that I could still read Leo a bedtime story if I was away for the evening.

The colouring option takes you through to 14 different pictures that your little one can colour themselves. Leo has been really enjoying this part of the app, he has been experimenting with all of the different colours available and creating his own race of dinosaur! This part of the app is going to be a godsend when we go on long car journeys and offers a different activity for him.

- 14 dinosaurs to colour!

- Fun menu screen gives children quick way to select favourite dinosaur- Children use their fingers to add colours and patterns to all of their favourite dinosaurs - A choice of colours for each dinosaur make it possible for children to be as creative as they like - Magic colouring option means little fingers can create a dinosaur that looks exactly like the original - Save function means children can preserve their mini-masterpieces - Each dinosaur can be coloured again and again (and again!)

The last menu 'Name' lets you find out your dinosaur name by entering the name and then shaking the phone. Leo's came out as Leo-a-tops and Leo-Rex. What is your dinosaur name?

Leo is really enjoying the Dinosaur Roar! App and with all of the different features that have been included, it is a new firm favourite.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a code to download the new Dinosaur Roar! App for free, and sent a few goodies in exchange for my personal opinion. All views expressed are completely honest and my own.